Five Things We Learned From Today's SuperDraft

Thursday

Jan 16, 2014 at 12:01 AMJan 16, 2014 at 11:53 PM

Five things we learned about the Crew during today's Major League Soccer SuperDraft.

1. Ben Sweat is viewed as a player with long-term potential. With the 14th overall pick, the Crew tabbed the left back out of the University of South Florida. Shortly thereafter, Crew coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter told me that Sweat has the potential to be a starter in MLS in three years.

Five things we learned about the Crew during today’s Major League Soccer SuperDraft.

1. Ben Sweat is viewed as a player with long-term potential. With the 14th overall pick, the Crew tabbed the left back out of the University of South Florida. Shortly thereafter, Crew coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter told me that Sweat has the potential to be a starter in MLS in three years.

ESPN analyst and former Crew player Alejandro Moreno expressed a similar viewpoint during the ESPNews broadcast.

“He does have enough pace to control 1v1 situations down the flank,” Moreno said. “There is plenty of room for growth for Ben Sweat. He very well may be a guy for the future. I’m not sure that this is a guy that’s ready to start right now.”

Sweat said such talk both was tough and exciting to hear.

“I think I’m going to a good system where I’m going to be able to compete right away and battle for a spot,” he said. “(I think my strengths are my) athletic ability and being able to get forward. I love to attack out of the back. I like to get forward and serve balls and having the ability to defend well as well. I definitely have to improve my defense for the next level.”

2. Tyson Wahl is no longer under consideration to play left back. When the Crew opened the 2013 season, Wahl was its starting left back. He would eventually give way to Agustin Viana before moving inside, where he played at the end of the season. Center back is Wahl’s preferred position, and today Berhalter confirmed that he will play there this season.

In addition to Sweat, the Crew has offseason signing Waylon Francis and holdover Agustin Viana to fill out the position.

ESPN analyst Alexi Lalas praised the pick.

“I like this player a lot,” he said. “I think he understands his position. I think he understands when to go forward, when not to go forward. He also, first and foremost, enjoys defending. Just because you can bomb forward doesn’t mean you have to go forward.”

3. Sweat felt good about his chances of being drafted by the Crew after the combine. “I did have an idea (they would take me),” he said. “I know they gave me good feedback when I interviewed with them. I was impressed with the entire coaching staff when I met with them for interviews. I was hoping that they would be able to select me. They weren’t too sure about me getting picked earlier.

“I definitely knew I was going to be a first-round pick with the interviews that I had and the good feedback that I had. I honestly just didn’t know which team.”

4. The Crew had little interest in joining today’s trading frenzy. Six draft-day trades altered an already jumbled first-round picture, but Berhalter said the Crew had little interest in moving from its spot at 14.

“No, we weren’t going to trade up because we felt the player we could get at that spot would have been good enough,” he said. “At the 14th pick, we were happy with the quality of player we could have got.”

Berhalter added that the Crew fielded little interest in its pick from other teams.

5. Michael Parkhurst’s position might be in flux. The Crew acquired the United States national team defender with designs on planting him in its central defense, but Parkhurst moved back to MLS partially to help his chances to make the World Cup roster. Should he do so, it would likely be at right back.

That puts Berhalter in a tricky situation: does he do what is best for the Crew or the best for the national team?

“I think for Gregg Berhalter, this was a smart pickup, getting a smart guy who understands MLS,” Lalas said. “Now, how you integrate him in and where he plays, that’s his job. That’s why he gets paid the big bucks.”